Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

Sharing My Thoughts

At the moment, I'm really getting close to finishing my next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery. I am woefully late with this as I usually have a new Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery coming out in August. Won't happen this year.

If you are one of my blog followers you may know some of the reasons I'm so behind.

Working with the news publisher for my Rocky Bluff P.D. series to update all the books that now or will have matching covers, I re-edited each one. I do have a new one in the series--but it's not out yet because of what's going on overall.

Then my good friend, Lorna Collins, found and pointed out to me, various problems with the Tempe Crabtree series--so, of course, this meant more re-editing.

In the meantime I've been trying to do some promotion, since I don't have a new book, it would be nice to have some new readers for my older books. Besides online promotion, I also have been going to various book fairs and conferences. This weekend is the Cambria Authors event, and yes I'm participating.

Coming up in July (almost here), I'm heading over to Las Vegas for my very favorite writers' conferences, PSWA. I'll be working with authors at the pre-conference workshop and giving a class on Description. I'm moderating a panel, and on a panel with two other authors about Point of View.

Besides writing tips, we'll hear from the first responders in all the public safety fields.

And of course with a big family, there's always fun stuff and crises, a baby was born recently, my daughter-in-law had an operation, some family members came home for a visit, hubby has been sick and all the mundane stuff of living of course.

Popular posts from this blog

The book begins with a tsunami where Franco Patrese escapes with his life, but his girlfriend doesn't.

The story jumps to a murder in New Orleans and Marie Laveau, so-called Queen of the Underworld and voodoo authority where Patrese is now an FBI agent. He is caught up in the investigation of unusual and gory murders involving the amputation of a leg and an axe in the middle of the forehead.

Many threads are woven through this sometimes wild and adventurous thriller--threads that at times become what seem to be hopelessly tangled. Much is revealed about New Orleans politics and the mysticism of the city itself as the story moves along at a breath-taking pace.

The climax and solution to the mysteries coincides with Hurricane Katrina with conclusions that have a strong element of truth.

Highly recommended to those who like excitement on nearly every page and don't mind a bit of gore.

Our wedding day, October 24, 1951
Yes, it's one birthday after another around here.

I'm sure my dear hubby never thought he'd make it to 88--but that's where he is today. His dad died at a young age, though some of his uncles lived well into their 80s.
He's lived a full life--growing up in the small town of Cambridge MD, raised by a grandmother and two aunts when his mother died. He went into the US Navy at 18, became a Seabee and served for 20 years. During that time he married me, fathered our 5 kids, traveled to many places around the country and the world to serve his country: Virginia, Rhode Island, Port Hueneme, Spain, Cuba, Bermuda, Alaska, and did three tours in Vietnam during the war.
After his retirement from the Seabees, he worked for Sears for 15 years. We moved to Springville and together owned and operated a residential care home for more than 20 years. Now, finally retired, we are en…

My cousin Doug was not only a relative, but a childhood playmate and a confidant through my teens and beyond.

He was one of those folks who truly followed a different drum beat. As a kid he did some things he shouldn't have, and some that were quite remarkable for someone of his age.
One that wasn't so wonderful, but pretty extiging at the time, happened when I was about 10 and he was 11. I was staying at his house overnight. We sneaked out of his bedroom window in our p.j.'s, and we went to someone's house who wasn't home. He had a key and we went inside, each ate an apple from a bowl on their table and left the cores behind. Left and he locked the door behind us.
He taught me how to climb trees. We went on hikes in the mountains and he would find animal droppings and tell what kind of animal they came from and what they'd eaten. Once I carried an alligator lizard home for him after one of out adventures. (I didn't like it much, but it was worth it to be …